Emotion

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /əˈmoʊʃnÌ©/, /iˈmoʊʃnÌ©/
• CanE IPA: /ɛˈmʌʊʃnÌ©/
• Rhymes: -əʊʃən

Origin

From French émotion, from émouvoir ("excite") based on Latin emotus, past participle of emovere ("to move out, move away, remove, stir up, agitate"), from e- ("out") (variant of ex-), and movere ("move").

Noun

1. A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 5, He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, …, the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
2. A reaction by an non-human organism with behavioral and physiological elements similar to a person's response.

Derived terms

• emotionable
• emotional

Synonyms

• (person's internal state of being) feeling, affect